Welcome to the Pacific Northwest gardens blog, an online journal on garden related subjects. I will share with you my personal thoughts and experiences as an avid plant enthusiast in the Pacific Northwest.

Building a Show Garden: Rockin’ It with CEM Design at Marenakos

How thrilled am I to be working with Clayton Morgan and CEM Design and Construction once again. I wrote up a little profile on him awhile back and you may have seen our photo when I attended his wedding two summers ago. He’s been a very busy guy and now he’s even busier having been married and, now, he’s also A DAD!! Congrats to Clayton, Jamie and their precious daughter, Hope.

Clayton and I informally discussed maybe doing a show garden together at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show many years ago. Having just taken the plunge on my own, I wanted to him to have some part of the show to gain the experience and get his work out there. Business has picked up for him considerably, but he was gracious enough to help out with the rock work involved for “The Lost Gardener”. That meant my very first visit to the infamous Marenakos Rock Center in Issaquah, WA. They are one of the main sponsors for the show and graciously provide the awesome rocks for almost all of the show gardens being created.

Being sort of new to the world of selecting landscape rock, Clayton was on hand when I met with Mr. Bill Hyde who was so informative and helpful throughout the process. Knowing that Clayton was on a tight schedule, I did my best to be as efficient and direct as I can. This whole process has been a true practice in taking control of a project and trusting those around you to guide and support your thoughts and decisions and overall vision.

I think we got a few useful pieces to be placed strategically by Mr. Morgan’s crew come show time and about three pieces that are in the running as the main focal point of the display.

This was too small, but still intriguing

Will we figure it out and make it work?? We’ll find out February 16 when Marenako’s bring these rocks to the Washington State Convention and Trade Center.
R